TREATMENT OF SPONDYLOSISTHESIS

TREATMENT OF SPONDYLOSISTHESIS : Spondylolisthesis is the slippage of one vertebral body with respect to the adjacent vertebral body causing mechanical or radicular symptoms or pain. It can be due to congenital or acquired causes.

Causes

• Repetitive stress to the pars interarticularis
• Decreased strength of the neural arch at a young age predisposes children and adolescents to a higher risk of fracture.
• Traumatic accidental injuries
• Microtrauma in sports
• Pathological causes – Neoplasm, connective tissue disease, etc.
• Iatrlaminectomy

Symptoms

Patients typically have low back pain which for lumbar spondylolisthesis and localized/radiating neck pain for cervical spondylolisthesis.

Pain is exten at the affected segment, as this can cause mechanic pain from motion, leading to diminished ROM (spine).

Pain can also be radicular in nature as the exiting nerve roots become compressed due to the narrowing of nerve

Pain sometimes improve in certain postures such as lying . This improvement is due to the instability of the spondylolisthesis that reduces with supine posture, thus relieving the pressure on the bony elements as well as opening the spinal canal or neural foramen.

Spondylolisthesis can also present as an acute or chronic episode with the patient having severe exacerbation of pre-existing back pain, neurological deficits, hamstrings spasm and a crouched gait. The patient develops a crouched gait (Phalen-Dickson sign) due to the vertical position of the sacrum, lumbosacral kyphosis, compensatory lordosis of the proximal spine and flexion of the knees and hips, which may be present regardless of the degree of slippage.

Atrophy of the muscles, muscle weakness

Tense hamstrings, hamstrings spasms

Disturbances in coordination and balance, difficulty walking

Treatment of Spondylolisthesis

Rarely loss of bowel or bladder control.

• Core stability exercises, useful in reducing pain and disability in chronic low back pain in patient with spondylolisthesis.
• Stretching and strengthening exercises.
• Gait training.
• Balance training.
• Endurance training of muscles, effective for chronic low back pain.
• Isometric and isotonic exercises beneficial for strengthening of the main muscles of the trunk, which stabilize the spine.
• Cardiovascular exercise.

Contact us at Effective Physiotherapy and Fitness Clinic, for this and similar conditions, at: No 2, Ajumgobia Close, Kado Estate, Abuja, or call: +234 811 885 6060 or +234 909 860 4470